Chapter 4: Immortals

It had been a couple of months since Long'er walked out of his destroyed village. He had been living in a cave he found a day's journey away from the village. He didn't have to worry about his sustenance since he remembered listening to the farmers talk about plants and herbs. His memory had always been good. From his birth he remembered nearly every memory in detail.

He even remembered the stench of a soaking wet cat which had jumped in through the window on a rainy day when he was six months old.

On this day, he was silently pondering his situation while sitting in front of a small fire that he had made from dry twigs. The fire flickered weakly in the darkness just like his dark thoughts.

"General Qin…", he said out loud while thinking.

"I promise that I will give you a death so painful you will wish you were never born.", he said in an emotionless and cold voice. Long'er had said the same thing so many times in the last few months that he had lost count.

He had been moving in the general direction of a small town he remembered seeing in a rough map. At this time, he heard the galloping of horses coming towards him from the distance. His thoughts immediately came to an abrupt halt. He slowly got up and went to the opening of his little cave. As the horses came closer, he heard people talking.

"…two more weeks… Shattered stone city…", the wind seemed to swallow the rest of the words.

Long'er poked his head out to look in their direction. He saw a carriage and half a dozen horses in front of it.' They must be going to a city or town, who knows when another caravan will come through, I can only risk it.'

He ran out and frantically waved to hands shouting," Stop! Stop!..."

The men on the horses pulled on the reins and cautiously looked at him while keeping their hands near their weapons.

But after they saw his small stature and young face, their hands loosened and a man holding a torch came forward.

"What are you doing here at this time of the night, child?", he asked in a deep voice.

A fair face with a strong jaw, sharp chin and thin lips revealed itself in the light of the torch. An old scar ran down his cheek till his upper lip. He looked middle-aged but his eyes glittered with wisdom.

"I am travelling to a town but I got lost, can you point me in the right direction or give me a spare map, sir?", he asked quietly.

"Why would an 8-year-old child travel alone to a town?", came the reply.

Long'er had always been taller than kids his age." My village was… destroyed in a beast tide", Long'er said in a quiet voice while looking at the ground.

The man sighed then turned towards the rest of the men," Put up the tents, we will make a camp here for the night."

"Yes, Captain", a chorus of voices replied at once.

The man then turned back and asked," What is your name child?"

"My name is Lon….", he paused.

"My name is Lance", he said after a moment of thought.

The man glanced at him meaningfully. Even though his expression did not change, his eyes showed a hint of approval.

"You may call me Captain Chong. We are going to Shattered Stone city. You can follow us till we reach the nearest town.", he said in the same emotionless tone.

But then he suddenly asked," Did wild beasts not attack you?"

"Wild beasts, no I didn't see any wild beasts", replied truthfully.

"It's probably because I mostly stayed in caves at night and only travelled during the day.", he said after a moment of thought.

The man simply said," You are very fortunate then."

He then motioned to a spare tent and said," Stay here for the night. Dinner will be prepared in a few minutes."

"Thank you"

After 10 minutes, he was sitting with the guards at the campfire and eating dry jerky.

He looked at the food being cooked by a few maids on a portable stove and asked the man beside him," For whom are they cooking the food?"

"For the Young Lady in the carriage.", a man with arms the size of Lance's thighs replied noncommittally.

Another man gazed towards the carriage with a look that revealed worship and said," The Young Lady is going to join an Immortal Sect and become an Immortal!"

"The Sect only selects disciples every 3 years based on talent but the Young Lady's talent was so amazing that an Immortal himself descended from the Sect to take her as his disciple. Attending the selections is a mere formality", said a man revealing the same respect and worship in his tone.

"Immortals… ", Lance's eyes lit up after he heard them talking about this.

Then the carriage door opened and a small girl daintily stepped out while holding a middle-aged lady's hands. Her bright eyes looked around and instantly noticed his small figure among the burly men. But she didn't pay anymore attention to him and went towards an exquisite tent in the middle of the camp.

Greetings rang out as she passed by the campfire towards her tent.

"Greetings, Young Lady"

"Young lady Meng", all the men greeted her with respect in their tone.

They weren't respecting her but her future status of an Immortal.

For mortals, Immortals were so far away that they may as well have been myths. But every mother told her children the stories of Immortals who could eviscerate oceans and break mountains with a mere wave of their hand.

Even Lance had heard these stories in the village. Immortals were said to live as long as the heavens themselves. Then the piercing pain came back as he was again reminded of his village.

He slowly put himself to sleep with the thought of killing a certain Immortal, for he did not allow even a sliver of doubt to arise in his heart.

Because he had vowed to kill the General even if he was a God!